Saturday, March 7, 2009

My first cover from Austria!

Great thanks to Dr. Florian for sending me this beautiful FDC from Austria. It is my first cover from this lovely country! This cover features Raimondo Montecúccoli (February 21, 1608 - October 16, 1680). He was an Italian general who served as general for the Austrians, and was also prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Neapolitan duke of Melfi.Montecuccoli entered the Austrian Army in 1625, during the early part of the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), and distinguished himself against King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden at Breitenfeld (1631) and Lützen (1632). In action again at Nördlingen (1634) and Wittstock (1636), he was a Swedish prisoner from 1639 to 1642, using that time to complete his education and to study the art of war. His strategic and tactical writings were begun then. Returning to the field in 1642, he campaigned for his native Modena in the War of Castro (1642–44), between the papacy and its opponents, and against the Hungarian rebel György Rákóczy I in 1645. Back in Germany, his skillful retreat in Bavaria in the face of a combined French–Swedish onslaught led to his promotion to general.The Peace of Westphalia (1648) enabled Montecuccoli to return to writing and to carry out a number of diplomatic missions for the Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand III. Promoted field marshal, he drove the Swedes from Germany, Denmark, and Pomerania (1658–60) and foiled the Turkish offensives against Austria between 1661 and 1664, winning a decisive victory at St. Gotthard on the Raab (Aug. 1, 1664), for which he was hailed as the saviour of Christendom. He then received rapid promotions. Named generalissimo of all imperial armies in 1664, he became president of the Hofkriegsrat (supreme imperial war council) in 1668. As head of that body, he sponsored a number of reforms, among them the introduction of a lighter musket, the reduction of the number of infantry pikemen balanced by a corresponding increase in soldiers armed with firearms, and the elevation of grenadiers into an elite force.Already an old man, Montecuccoli was recalled to lead the imperial armies against France in 1672, defeating Marshal Henri de Turenne repeatedly during the next three years. Age and ill health finally forced his retirement in 1675. (www.britannica.com)

BTW, we share the same birthday! (although 368 years apart :)) Cool!

The other stamp depicting Scotch Laburnum, is part of the flower definitives series (shown below) issued on 25th August 2007. This cover took 7 days to travel an estimated distance of 9,775km to reach Singapore.

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About Me

Good day to you! A warm welcome to my blog! I collect stamps of the first issues (first postage stamp issued by any nations), stamps of U.S.A. & P.R.C. origins and topical stamps of tortoises and turtles. However more often than not, I am swung by beautiful stamps outside my collecting areas! So end of the day, I collect everything (LOL). I am also interested to exchange covers from all corners of the world. So if you are interested, pls do not hesitate to send me a cover to my postal address and i will revert back to you with a beautiful cover from Singapore. Enjoy your stamps!